Tundra Nunavik: Potential distribution of birds and mammals of Labrador and northern Quebec projected for the 21st century (2011-2040, 2041-2070 and 2071-2100) under climate change scenarios

While most ecological studies focus on the impact of climate change on some populations or species, broader, ecosystem-based information is needed to better predict the future state of the Arctic. We therefore conducted a large-scale study aimed at characterizing the vulnerability of tundra ecosystems to climate change through modelling. As part of this study, we built models to relate species distributions to climate variables and to project this relation under climate change scenarios to estimate future potential distribution. We modelled mammal and bird species which distribution range overlap the study region using niche models. Distributions of mammals were taken from the International Union for the conservation of Nature, while distributions of birds were taken from BirdLife International and NatureServe. For each species, we built species distribution models (several algorithms) and projected relations into future under different climate change scenarios at different time periods (2011-2040, 2041-2070, 2071-2100). Further methodological informations can be found in the Supplementary documentation section. Species projections (presence-absence data) for baseline and future periods are available in NetCDF format.